Nibelheim
by Nicky T
Summary: My version of what Cloud said when he told the other's about Nibelheim and what happened there.


I don't remember much about that time. Just little bits and pieces that fit together strangely. Actually, I don't remember much about the last twenty one years of my life at all. Sometimes a memory will come upon me almost like a storm. Violent, quick, and then it's gone. But I do remember Nibelheim. I remember it burning and him standing amongst the flames, cool and untouched.  
  
Yes, I do remember Nibelheim.  
  
I remember riding in the truck on the way to Nibelheim. I was excited. I can't really remember why. I think it was because I had new materia. It was storming outside. Funny. It was storming when we came to Nibelheim and it was sunny when we left. There were just five of us in the truck. Me, two shinra soldiers, Sephiroth and the driver. I didn't know the soldiers that well, or at least I don't remember knowing them. I may have known them and just forgotten about it.  
  
I think one of the soldiers was sick, because I asked him how he was doing and he groaned something about being fine then leaned over, his face slightly green.   
  
I didn't speak to the driver at all.  
  
I remember pacing and speaking briefly to Sephiroth about the mission. I can hear him in my head. Telling me about strange monsters that have been appearing around Nibelheim. I was scared. Nibelheim was my home. I was worried too, about the people I knew who lived there. Tifa and my mother were foremost in my mind. Tifa because I had made a promise to protect her, and mother because she was my mother. The only person whom I loved at that time.  
  
On the way to Nibelheim our truck was attacked by a dragon. Sephiroth, single-handedly defeated the dragon. He did it so easily and so quickly I could hard believe it. But Sephiroth had always been strong. I think he was strong at birth. He didn't know how to be anything other than strong. That's why I admired him so much. Sometimes he didn't seem to be human.  
  
We reached Nibelheim and booked a room at the inn. But they didn't have enough beds. I ended up sleeping on the floor. I think I visited my mother when we first arrived but I can't really recall if I did or not. That first day is just a blur.   
  
We headed out to the reactor as soon as morning came. It was cold. The one shinra soldier complained all the way up. He had been raised in a tropical climate and had never been anywhere near snow before. Tifa was our guide. She didn't recognize me though. Maybe I just looked too different in the SOLDIER uniform. I don't know, but I never told her who I was. She led us to the reactor, but on the way there was an accident with one of the bridges and the soldier who had complained so bitterly about the cold was seperated from us. We never saw him again.  
  
My memories of the reactor are fuzzy. Sephiroth and I were the only ones who entered it. There was a red room, inside of it lay pods that were at least six feet tall each. The pods were lined up in rows. Row upon row of pods. There was an aisle down the center of the pods, at the end of the aisle was a steel door with a metal plate over it. The plate was engraved with the word: Jenova.  
  
Jenova. Even then the word caused me to shiver uneasily. Little did I know that Jenova would be the cause of more grief and pain than I could ever imagine.  
  
Sephiroth found a pod with a faulty valve. He had me fix the valve. When I was finished he grabbed the pod's viewport and pulled himself up so he could look through it. After looking inside the pod he lowered himself, "...now I see, Hojo." he whispered to himself, "But, even doing this, will never put you on the same level as Professor Gast."  
  
I didn't understand him then, I don't think I fully understand what he meant even now. He turned to me, his eyes strangely dilated, "This is a system that condenses and freezes the Mako energy... that is, when it's working correctly. Now, what does Mako energy become when it's further condensed?"   
  
'Materia.' I answered.  
  
"Right, normally. But Hojo put something else in there. ...Take a look. Look through the window." He urged.  
  
I was afraid, but I pulled myself up and looked through the viewport. Horrible. The thing inside the pod was built like a human, but it's skin was rotting, it was mutated horribly. I was so shocked and horrified by the sight that I fell back. My legs couldn't hold me so I just sat on the floor gasping, "Wh.. what is that?"  
  
"Normal members of SOLDIER are humans that have been showered with Mako. You're different from the others, but still human. But what are they? They've been exposed to a high degree of Mako, far more than you." He sounded so cold, so matter of fact. It was strange. I was so shaken by what I'd seen that I couldn't stand and there he was, dicussing it clinically as if it was something he saw everyday.  
  
I managed to pull myself to my feet, I gazed at the pod and gasped, "...Is this some kind of monster?"   
  
"Exactly. And it's Hojo and Shinra that produced these monsters." He answered, "Mutated living organisms produced by Mako energy. That's what these monsters really are."   
  
"Normal members of SOLDIER? You mean you're different?"   
  
One moment he was standing there, cold and indifferent, the next he was trembling. He grabbed his head with a muffled moan. I remember being surprised and almost frightened by this sudden change. Him being cold was one thing, after all I sort of expected him to be cold, but him trembling and acting all too human was frightening. "N... no...." he gasped.  
  
He stopped trembling as abruptly as he started and dropped his hands. His eyes. I can still see them. Wide, unfocused, ... and scared. "...Was I?" He drew his sword and started to furiously attack the pods. "...Was I created this way too?" he cried as he slashed at the pods, "Am I the same as all these monsters....."   
  
I tried to stop him. I tried to understand what was going on, but I couldn't. After a moment he stopped and stood a few feet from me, his shoulders heaving. I couldn't tell if he was laughing, panting or crying. "You saw it!" he cried desperately, "All of them.... were humans...."   
  
"Human!? No way!" I cried, but in truth they did look human. They had a partially human form.  
  
Sword still clutched tightly in his hand he turned to me, his eyes churning with violent emotion. "....I've always felt since I was small... That I was different from the others. Special, in some way. But... not like this...." It was the last time I saw him act human. It would be the last time he would look at me with life in his eyes.  
  
As we stood there, both lost in confusion one of the pods suddenly burst. The creature ... human that was revealed by the open pod was so horrific that both he and I just stared as it lay there dying. It hadn't been completely formed so it wasn't ready for the air. We just let it die. We didn't know what else to do. It was just a monster. I kill them everyday. I don't understand why letting that monster die bothered me so much. I think it was because at that point I realized for the first time that the monster had been human once. Maybe some of it's conscious mind still remained. Maybe it still felt fear and love and pain... it was horrible, and it made my heart ache.  
  
We returned to Nibelheim. Sephiroth confined himself at the inn. He didn't even try to talk to me. We found him inside the biggest building in Nibelheim several days later. The building was referred to as the Shinra mansion. I can see the mansion clearly in my mind. It's the only real clear thing about my memories. On the second floor in the last bedroom down the hall there was a secret passage behind the fireplace that led to the mansion's basement. There were only two rooms in the basement. One was a large library, the other a storage room.   
  
The library was like nothing I had ever seen before. There were two reading areas seperated by a hallway. I found Sephiroth in the first reading area. He was pacing the room, a book held open in his hand. He read aloud, unaware of my presence. "....an organism that was apparently dead, was found in a 2000 year old geological stratum. Professor Gast named that organism, Jenova..."   
  
I listened to him for a few moments, unable, and unwilling to interrupt him. I was frightened of him, even then... especially then. "X Year, X Month, X Day. Jenova confirmed to be an Ancient... X Year, X Month, X Day. Jenova Project approved. The use of Mako Reactor 1 approved for use..."   
  
I watched as he moved down the hallway slowly. Suddenly he stopped and looked up, "My mother's name is Jenova... Jenova Project... Is this just a coincedence?" He looked back down at the book, "Professor Gast... Why didn't you tell me anything? ...Why did you die?"   
  
Horrible. It was all so horrible. I didn't interrupt him. Maybe I should have. At the time I was just too nervous about breaking into his thoughts. So I turned and quietly left the room.  
  
Sephiroth didn't come out of the Shinra Mansion... He continued to read as if he were possessed by something, and not once, did the light in the basement go out...   
  
I visited him every morning. One morning when I entered the library I could hear him laughing in the second reading room. It was strange to hear him laugh. I was shocked and then hopeful that maybe he had finally snapped out of whatever had possessed him, so I ran down the hall into the second reading room.   
  
He was sitting at the desk. Piles and piles of books lay around him. The shelves that lined the walls were all empty, the books that had once been in them laying on the floor. "Who is it!?" Sephiroth cried. He looked up, his eyes dead and lifeless. When he saw me he turned his head away, "Hmph... traitor."   
  
"Traitor?" I didn't understand.  
  
"You ignorant traitor. I'll tell you."   
  
And that's what he did. He told me everything. He told me that the planet used to belong to a race of people called the Cetra. He told me Cetra was an itinerant race that would migrate in, settle the planet then move on. They believed that at the end of their journey the would find the promised land and supreme happiness.   
  
"But, those that disliked the journey appeared. Those who stopped their migrations built shelters and elected to lead an easier life. They took that which the Cetra and the planet had made without giving one whit in return! Those are your ancestors." When he finished his speech he looked away.  
  
I thought he was done, but after a short pause he continued. "Long ago, disaster struck this planet. Your ancestors escaped... They survived because they hid. The Planet was saved by sacrificing the Cetra. After that, your ancestors continued to increase. Now all that's left of the Cetra is in these reports."   
  
"What does that have to do with you?" I was confused by his story but even more curious as to why this information was relevant. Why did it matter?   
  
"Don't you get it?" He cried, standing and walking over to me. His eyes never once met my gaze. He looked down the hallway. "An Ancient named Jenova was found in the geological stratum of   
2000 years ago. The Jenova Project."   
  
He stopped, burying his head in his hands. For a moment I got a glimpse of the human in him. The weak part of him that was frightened and disgusted by all he'd learnt. "The Jenova Project wanted to produce people with the powers of the Ancients..... no, the Cetra. "...I am the one that was produced."   
  
"Pr... produced!?" I gasped, unable to believe what I was hearing. He was one of those monsters I had seen in that pod. I couldn't believe it then, I still have trouble believing it now.  
  
"Yes." he answered calmly, dropping his hands and raising his head, "Professor Gast, leader of the Jenova Project and genius scientist, produced me."   
  
He walked down the hallway, then stopped at the end as if waiting for something. "How... how did he...?" I gasped, running down the hall and stopping just behind him.  
  
"Out of my way. I'm going to see my mother." He growled. Then he left.  
  
I still can't believe it. After all these years I still can't believe what he did, and how fast he did it. By the time I got out of the Shinra mansion the entire village was on fire. He had set it on fire. I rushed to my mother's home, but it was too late. She was dead.  
  
"Terrible... Sephiroth... This is too terrible..." I whispered, standing in the middle of the courtyard. I was numb with shock.  
  
I looked up, and there he was. Near the edge of the village. Nibelheim was so small you could see one end of it from the opposite side. He stood amongst the flames, untouched, or maybe just uncaring. As if sensing eyes on him he slowly raised his head. His face was lifeless, his eyes dull and without emotion. He met my gaze briefly then turned and walked into the flames.  
  
I chased him blindly. I don't remember the trip up the mountain. I just remember being in the reactor. Seeing Tifa leaning over her dead father's body, Sephiroth's sword lying with blood on it's blade nearby. I don't know why but I didn't move as I watched her. "Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he!?" She cried, "Sephiroth... SOLDIER... Mako Reactors... Shinra... Everything! I hate them all!"   
  
She grabbed Sephiroth's sword and ran into the red room. I knew he would be there, waiting for her. I was afraid. I was numb and for some reason I couldn't move. It was only when I heard her scream in pain and fear that I managed to get my body to move. I charged into the red room and stared with horror at Tifa, who was laying crumpled on the floor. I thought she was dead.  
  
More scared than I'd ever been before I rushed over to her and fell to my knees by her side. Her eyes were open and when she saw me she smiled, "...You promised... You promised that you'd come.... when I was in trouble..." she whispered, then her eyes shut.  
  
I carried her out of the way and laid her near one of the pods. I covered her with my jacket then stood. The door to Jenova was slightly open and I knew that was where Sephiroth had gone. Blinded by rage and pain I charged into the room.  
  
He was there, standing in the middle of the room. Before him was a large vat. I couldn't see what was in the vat because a statue shaped like an angel was in front of it. There was electrical equipment everywhere. The room was buzzing with the hum of all the motors. "Mother, let's take this planet back together." Sephiroth said, his voice strangely muffled. "I've thought of a great idea. Let's go to the Promised Land."   
  
"Sephiroth..." I cried to get his attention, "My family! My hometown! How could you do this to them!?"  
  
He didn't acknowledge me. His head slowly lowered and his shoulders started to shake ... with laughter? "Ha, ha, ha..... They've come again, mother." he stopped laughing abruptly, "With her superior power, knowledge, and magic, Mother was destined to become the ruler of this Planet."   
  
He stepped closer to the statue, "But they...the ones with NO right took the planet from you.... but you don't have to be sad anymore..." Suddenly he reached up and grabbed the statue with both hands. I gasped in surprise as he ripped the statue out of it's stand and threw it aside. For a moment all I could see was a yellow fire from the sparks. And then I got a good look at Jenova.  
  
She looked strangely beautiful. Skin blue from the water that filled the vat. She looked fragile and cold. Very cold. My eyes travelled down her body and I gasped. She had only a torso and head.   
  
Blindly I ripped my eyes away from the alien creature named Jenova and drew my sword, "What about MY sadness!? My family... friends... The sadness of having my hometown taken away from me!? It's the same as your sadness!" I yelled.  
  
Sephiroth stood before Jenova, his arms raised and his sword held high over his head. Even in my fear and anger I realized that he looked strangely beautiful standing before his ... mother like that. "Ha, ha, ha... my sadness? What do I have to be sad about? I am the chosen one. I have been chosen to be the leader of this Planet. I have orders to take this planet back from you stupid people for the Cetra. What am I supposed to be sad about?"   
  
Shaking my head I looked away, "Sephiroth.... I trusted you..."   
  
I gripped my sword with both hands and looked back up at him. I could not see his face, but I knew ... I knew what I would see if I could, "No, you're not the Sephiroth I used to know!" I cried.  
  
I was going to make him pay for what he did to my home.  
  
And that's all I can remember about Nibelheim. That's all I can remember about that day.  
  
I don't know if I ever fought Sephiroth. I do know that Jenova's body disappeared and Sephiroth was never seen again after that day. Some say he was killed in battle ... did I kill him? I couldn't have. I'm not and never have been strong enough. He was born and bred to be strong. He could have defeated me without breaking a sweat.  
  
So ... what happened?  
  
I don't remember much about the last twenty years of my life. I think maybe the Mako has stripped my long term memory. But I do remember Nibelheim.  
  
Yes, I do remember Nibelheim. 


End file.
